AN: Flashback Chapter

Chapter 10:

Flashback:

It was the crew's final year at their respective colleges and things were going quite well. Well, for almost all of them anyway. It seemed that Brett was having a bit of a moment in recent weeks but wasn't quite sure about how to approach the topic at all.

See, after helping Quinton set up his garage and having Santana promoted, the blonde began to think more over his life and if what he had chosen to do was worth it.

He was sitting in his office partially facing out the window with a far off look plastered on his face as Santana entered his offce, "Hey," she said as she walked in.

"Oh, hey Santana," Brett said as he turned his chair around.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing,"

"Aha, sure, it's nothing, you know I know that guys sometimes have the ability to literally think of nothing and stare into space, and believe me I know it drives us girls nuts because we like to think of too many things all the time, but I know this is different, what's up? Is it about Angie? I know you're heart broken over the break up but I'm sure you'll..."

"Meet someone, yeah I know, just when, but that's not what I'm thinking about,"

"So you are thinking of something? Spill," Santana said as she sat down in the chair opposite him.

"I've been thinking about my life, and I, you know I've been saving and stuff, but I'm still basically living under my father, I mean my pent house is under his name, my car is under his name, almost everything I own save my bank account and the money I make, even my trust fund is still under his name, but I was thinking things over and I, I just, this life while good with money, it's not, I feel empty Santana and I don't know what to do,"

Santana just sighed as she looked away for a moment and then looked back at him as she adjusted herself in her seat so that she could get comfortable, "Okay, I'm going to sound like a counselor when I ask this, but, why do you feel empty?" she asked.

"I just, I'm comparing lives you know and don't get me wrong, I do enjoy working here now that I've gotten use to it, the money is good, the work is still more about the gym than dance but hey it works, profits and membership went up and is now steady, but..."

"But?"

"I just, comparing lives with Quinton I just, I want what he has,"

"And that would be?"

"Love, dreams, comfortability, he gave up this kind of rich life in High School because he wanted to follow his dreams, I know most people think that he did it to follow Rachel but that's not the whole truth and I know that even Rachel knows that,"

"Explain," Santana gestured attempting to help Brett extend more on what he was talking about.

"I have no doubts that Q loves Rachel with all his heart and with everything he's got, I don't, because I've seen him with her, but even if they weren't married I know that the two would have remained good friends and Rachel is a loving and encouraging soul to those around her and would have encouraged him to follow his dreams which I know he would have done regardless of whether he was with her or not,"

"Okay,"

"And then I look at his life, he's just happy, content, and me, yes, I have money and all that and I'm sure that if I loved the idea of running the business with and for my father I'd have no problems with it but it's just, I just,"

"You feel like it's not fulfilling?"

Brett just nodded his head, "You know Rachel was right, I am angry that I didn't have the courage to do what Quinton did, but I on the other hand needed to make sure my financial future was secure, but a part of me wonders if I did the right thing, if the price of giving up on my dreams was worth it,"

Santana thought for a moment before saying, "You know that there is no singular way of doing anything, yes, I know that running a gym is not like running a dance studio or even dancing for a living but you've done some good for the company,"

"Yeah I know," Brett said as he ran his hands over his face and through his hair as he let out a sigh.

"Because you followed the path you did, I'm better off financially, my father is recovering very well, and my friend now has the garage he's always dreamed of, I know that there are also a lot of kids out there who appreciated the little carnivals you did for them through charity and that, that's a good thing you could not have done had you not had the money for it,"

Brett just gave her a smile.

"But maybe it's time you start thinking about yourself, look I know that you're still remorseful about what you did but for how long do people expect you to be apologising for the wrongs you had done? How long do people expect you to not be happy with your life again?" Santana asked him rhetorically.

Brett just started to fiddle with a pen on his desk.

"If you want my opinion..." Santana started.

"I do," Brett said quickly as he cut her off.

"Okay, if you want my opinion I say that you sit and think about it, give it a week or two and consider all possibilities and all options of what you can do and where you want to go next, and if you can think of what you'd like to do, plan for it," Santana said.

Brett just nodded his head, "By the way Santana, I have something for you," he said as he gave her a letter.

"Oh?" Santana said as she opened the letter, "It's a letter of recommendation, what for?"

Brett just smiled, "I found out through a friend that there's a job going at that Fashion Design Magazine that you love so much and have said you'd love to go work for them, the pay won't be as good as it is here because it's a very junior position in design for their company BUT I figured it'd be in the right step for you because I know that that's your dream,"

"I don't know what to say,"

"As much as I hate for you to leave me here Santana I can't deny you your dream, I'd like to hear this from you, 'Brett, here is my resignation letter, I just got accepted to work for FDM Fashion,'"

"I haven't got the job yet,"

"Then I suggest you do something about it, and hey, we always have dance on Sunday's together, I can always see you there,"

Santana just smiled at him as she got up from her seat and gave him a big hug.

So for the next two weeks Brett did as Santana suggested, he thought it over and even went to see Quinton about it.

Rachel he would have gone to see too, but the brunette was currently in the middle of a new production while doing school so when she was home she was asleep and neither Brett nor Quinton had the heart to wake her.

"You serious about doing what I did? Just walking away from all that rich stuff? I mean, I suppose you did do the smarter thing in a sense because you've been working and saving, but you get what I mean, once you walk out that door and your Dad cuts you off, you'll have to live off your savings and that ain't cheap," Quinton said.

"I know, but I look at you and I just, I told Santana the other day that even if you and Rachel hadn't gotten married or worked out you'd still have followed your dreams of opening a garage," Brett said, "Granted you wouldn't have your own garage right now if I didn't go down the wealth path, but that's besides the point,"

"Hmmm,"

"I just, like I told Santana I just want to live a life that's fulfilling, yes I know that there'll be hard days, I know that it won't always be as I want it to be, but I just, there is no music where I am Q, there's no flow, no rhythm, it's just the same old metronome rhythm every day, even with new projects the tempo goes up just a bit and then goes back to the same rhythm and I don't like it,"

"Are you thinking about dancing for a living and perhaps opening your own studio like you've always wanted to to teach kids and perhaps even do choreography for music videos?"

Brett just nodded his head as he picked up his coffee mug and took a sip.

Quinton took a moment before saying, "You know bro, you're still making money because you co-own the garage with me, but if you need a back up, you know that we're looking for someone to keep the books as well as run the advert stuff and promo deals,"

"You offering me a job as a back up in case my father disowns me?" Brett asked.

"Yeah, I mean if it wasn't for you I wouldn't have the place, besides I hate numbers unlike you, and don't deny it, you're a mathematical genius, so you know,"

"Thanks Q,"

"Quinn?!" Rachel was heard groaning from the bedroom.

Brett just looked at his friend as Quinton turned his head towards the bedroom.

"I better let you go," Brett said, "Thanks for the coffee and the talk,"

"No problem,"

"Quinn, Quinn," Rachel said as she came out in tears.

"What? What's wrong?" Quinton asked as he shot out of his chair and hugged his wife.

It took a moment before he realised what Rachel was holding.

"Oh no," he said, "What did it say?"

Rachel just turned the pregnancy stick over to show the pink positive line.

"Oh," he said as he held her tight, "It's okay, it's okay, we'll figure something out, okay,"

Rachel couldn't say anything as she cried and hugged Quinton tighter.

Brett was at a bit of a loss at what to do.

"I'll uh, just let myself out," he said quietly as Quinton nodded his head.

-page break-

It turned out that Rachel wasn't actually pregnant, it was just a false positive.

Quinton was relieved although he was also disappointed.

"I was looking forward to becoming a father actually," he said, "But Rachel and I, we know that right now is not the time for children, we're just starting our lives and we're still sorting things out,"

"Hmmm, what would you have done had you been pregnant? Well, Rachel anyway,"

"We talked about it, but I think in her heart she wouldn't think of having an abortion because she just couldn't do that, she did tell me that, adoption was another option but she told me that after going through what she did with her mother she couldn't do that either,"

"How about you?"

"I would have prepared to become a father, Rachel knows that I may have strayed from the church as of late because of things, but I am still very much a family man and a god fearing man, I believe that children are born for a reason and that reason will always remain unknown until they are here and we nurture them to their future, that's what I believe,"

"Even if things got hard for you?"

"Yeah,"

"Really?"

"Are you telling me that if you found out that your girl, if she were still with you, if your girl was pregnant with your kid and she wanted to get rid of it you wouldn't do anything to ask her to change her mind about getting rid of it?"

"Ultimately it's her choice,"

"Yeah that is true,"

"But I would ask her not to, you and I we have the same history and family is a big deal to the two of us, with that being said I, uh, I've, you know, signed before,"

"Oh, I'm sorry bro, I didn't know,"

"I don't like to talk about it, my father found out that a girl I had slept with had gotten pregnant, he demanded that either the child be adopted out or aborted, the mother of the would have been child wanted to abort, she couldn't have a baby now she had said, I was the only one who wanted the kid so they did the whole majority rules thing and I was forced to sign papers for it even though I would have done anything to it with me, guess my father didn't consider my feelings, again,"

Quinton just gave his friend a sad smile, as if to say, 'I'm feeling for your pain,'

"You know there are times when I think about holding that kid, he or she would have been about three now, I think about how I would have acted with that child, and had it not been for Santana, the child probably would have been the one to help me clean up my act, some days I just sit there and I imagine myself holding a baby in my arms and just rocking back and forth and watching it sleep,"

"There's not much I can say to that bro,"

"I know,"

"But you will be a father one day and you'll be good at it,"

"So will you,"

"Thanks,"

- page break-

As Brett went into his office the next day he saw Santana sitting on his chair.

"Well hello Brett," he said to her, "You're looking incredibly feminine as of late,"

"Well you know, I've been interested in this sexy species for a while, so I thought why not," Santana answered as she looked at him.

Brett just laughed, "How are you?" he asked.

"Good, I uh, I've got some news for you,"

"Yeah?"

"Here's my resignation letter, I got the job,"

"Really?"

Santana nodded her head.

"That's great, congratulations," Brett said as he hugged her tightly.

"Thank you, so, what about you?" she asked.

Brett just let out a sound indicating that he still wasn't sure.

"Just take your time B, you'll get there," Santana said.

-page break-

It was actually about a month later that Brett had made his final decision, after he graduated from Harvard he planned to leave the family business and strike out on his own by starting a small dance studio for kids and teens, it's what he always wanted to do.
And then perhaps if he ever got noticed or good enough he could entertain the idea of choreography for music videos.

The talk with his father however did not go well.

"I clothed you, I fed you, I nurtured you, and THIS is how you repay me? By deciding that once you were done you were going to leave, this was not in our agreement," Brendon hissed angrily at his son.

"I have made up my mind father, I have done as you asked for all these years and now I want to do what I want, dance," Brett said strongly.

"You drank, you partied, you slept around, got yourself arrested..."

"BECAUSE I WANTED YOU TO NOTICE ME, I'M YOUR SON AND YOU TREATED ME LIKE I WAS A PRIZE BULL," Brett yelled angrily, "You never acknowledged me and the one time you ever took me to the park you found it a waste of your time, that I was a waste of your time and don't you try and deny it,"

"Is it because that Latina left? Hmmm, or did that idiot friend of yours say something to you so that you'd join him in the ruts?"

"No, I've been wanting to dance for a very, very, long time, but you never cared about my dreams all you cared about was your dynasty,"

"Now you listen to me Brett and you listen good, you're taking over the family business or that very nice large trust fund that you have, you will never see it, the car, the penthouse, your things, all mine, so you walk out that door and I will literally have you stripped of everything and you can be the poor man,"

Brett just looked at his father.

"And you can forget about school," Brendon threatened.

"You have already paid for the whole thing, at this stage you can't get anything back without losing a lot of money, so I'll finish Harvard thank you," Brett said.

"You're making a mistake,"

"No, for the first time I don't think I am,"

Brendon punched Brett in the face making him stumble back a bit but the tall blonde refused to hit back.

"I could sue you for assault but I'm not like you and I don't ever plan to be, all I ever wanted was for you to understand me and love me for who I was but I know now that all you ever did and cared about was for you and that's the legacy that you gave to me, I've learnt to let it go and become better, and when I have my son I will damn well make sure that I NEVER treat him like you treated me," Brett hissed angrily.

"Strip and get the hell out, you're fired, and you're not in the family anymore, that bank account, that money, it's gone," Brendon said.

"Oh no it ain't, see I read all the legal stuff father, and I know that if you so much as try to take my money that I worked for you're violating the contract, so the money I made here, I'll keep it thank you,"

"You'll have nowhere to go,"

Brett just smirked as he stripped down to nothing and started to walk out of the office, "You can keep thinking that,"

Of course, one cannot really just walk down the streets in New York City butt naked without getting pulled over by the cops, it wasn't long before Brett found himself in a holding cell with a blanket wrapped around himself.

When asked, he told them to contact Santana who came and bailed him out.

"Oh my god," Santana said as she looked at Brett, "What happened?"

"I have been literally stripped," Brett said.

"Your face,"

"Nothing I'm not used to, listen, um, can you take me to the Fabray's place? Maybe I could crash on their couch or something,"

"They're testing for pregnancy, again, so you may want to avoid them, honestly I think Rachel's just over stressed about her life,"

"Oh,"

"Do you have any back ups?"

"Remember when I gave you my wallet yesterday and told you to hold on to it? As well as various other things that were important?"

"You knew this was going to happen, didn't you? It's why you gave me all the documents, and papers, and your wallet,"

Brett nodded his head.

"What did he say to you?" Santana asked.

"Nothing worth repeating," Brett answered, "I uh, I'd like to go to a store and get a suit, I need it for school, and perhaps other clothing too, and then I need to find a motel to stay in, do you know anywhere cheap?"

"Look, just ask me okay, you don't need to give me your elaborate plan in an attempt to see if I'd let you stay with me; because I know you were hoping to either crash at Quinn and Rachel's place, or hopefully stay with me, now it's a pain to stay with a married couple, trust me, so come and live with me, Papi can teach you all there is about being a real man in the real world,"

Brett just laughed at that, "You sure you're okay with that?"

"I wouldn't have offered if I wasn't, think of it as my thank you to you for helping my father when he was sick,"

And for the first time in a long time, Brett actually smiled.

-page break-

It took Brett a bit to settle in, but he didn't mind it after a while. Living with the Lopez's was different for him, to be around a father who constantly wanted to know about how life was going was odd and Mario was always invested in talking at dinner time and discussing things. He was always involved.

With that being said though, the happiest person to actually see Brett however was Monty as the boy ran up and gave him a big hug.

Brett had laughed at him as the two had a small dance off in the back garden.

The condition of Brett moving in was that he had to help out around the house, Mario didn't want the man to pay since he didn't have a job anymore. Brett had offered but Mario insisted that he didn't pay until he had a job again. Another rule was that Brett was to sleep in the spare room.

"You're not sleeping with my mija, you hear me?" Mario had playfully yet sternly said as Brett nodded his head in agreement, "Oh, and I will teach you basic home stuff as well, cooking, cleaning, you're not getting out of that,"

"I don't plan too,"

"Good, tonight we're making stew,"

And so Mario Lopez taught Brett how to cook.

"A man should know how to cook, my Mami taught me that, because what happens when one day your partner gets sick? You can't live on take out," Mario had told him, "She also said that a man should learn how to cook because if he lives alone he won't starve or eat things he shouldn't eat often, you get what I mean?"

"Yep," Brett said then proceeded to accidentally burn his thumb on the pot, "OW,"

"I told you to watch the pot,"

"Dat was dore," Brett sulked as he sucked his thumb, Santana had just laughed at him.

"Ya, ya, lab it up," Brett grumbled, thumb still in his mouth as Santana took his hand and ran it under the cold tap for ten minutes.

"Don't worry, you'll get there," she said to him with a smile as Brett felt that no matter what happened everything was going to be alright. For the most part anyway.

AN 2: And there we are team, I was planning on writing more, but I figured we'd go back to the present time because the crux of what needed to be explained was. I hope you enjoyed that flashback.